Portsmouth Museums granted Investing in Volunteers status

Portsmouth's Museum Service is pleased to announce it has been awarded prestigious Investing in Volunteers status.

The accreditation comes following an extensive review process, where auditors visited Portsmouth Museum to find out all about what the service does both for and with its volunteers. This involved detailed interviews with 18 volunteers, to discover how they rated both the work they do and the environment in which they do it. These interviews were conducted with volunteers working across a number of different areas, including front of house, events assistants, collections assistants and researchers.

During these interviews, our volunteers spoke about feeling appreciated by the Museums Service, saying: "[I am] thanked every time I come in" and: "We are included as part of the team just like anyone else." Another said the volunteers are "trusted to represent the museums, [which] shows they appreciate you."

This is a renewal of the Museums Service's previous Investing in Volunteers status, which it first attained in 2014. This new certification will be valid until 2021.

In the appraisal, Investing in Volunteers commended the Museum Service on rolling out improvements recommended in its 2014 report. This included the introduction of a volunteer newsletter, which is now circulated among the 48 volunteers by email and post.

Volunteer Coordinator Alison McGrigor said: "Renewing the Investing in Volunteers process demonstrates that we value the work our volunteers do and that we want to continue offering them a worthwhile experience. The process means that we regularly review and improve our procedures and look at new ways of working and therefore hopefully attracting more volunteers! As we have volunteers across six sites, it's been a team effort to ensure all our volunteers get the same experience.